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July 3, 2006

Liberty versus security in the war on ... sex offenders

Since September 11th, there have been many legal and political discussions about how to balance liberty and security concerns in the war on terror. But, especially the day before Independence Day, we might also reflect on how these issues are playing out in the war on sexual offenders. Some recent newspaper articles provide interesting food-for-thought:

This article details the tougher civil commitment and criminal sentencing provisions in Minnesota and North Dakota that followed one high-profile crime: "Three years after Dru Sjodin's kidnapping, Minnesota and North Dakota have made major changes in the way they handle sexual predators, keeping more of them locked up longer and supervising them more closely once they get out of prison."

This article discusses the possible impact of Georgia's new sex offender law, which prohibits sex offenders from living near a school-bus stop: "A huge number of Georgia's sex offenders live within 1,000 feet of bus stops: in DeKalb County in suburban Atlanta, all 490 offenders would have to move; in Bibb County, about 85 miles south, all but three of the county's 230 sex offenders would have to move."

This article reports on software developed by Police Detective Stephen Sammon for tracking every move and other aspects of the lives of sex offenders: "Sammon said when he hears of a 'suspicious character,' he can cross-check that person with others by eye color, color of the person's car, and so on, in a matter of seconds. A file including a photo of the offender and the date he is due to reregister with the state can be printed out instantly. If the offender hasn't registered by the deadline, Sammon goes looking for him."

Comments

We have a major problem in Washington State with the convicted sex offenders housed at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. The rapist and child molesters have started to demand the personnel files of state employees in an effort to harass workers. Not only are they doing that please read the following for more.

The Community Protection Act, RCW 71.09, was passed to protect the community from the sexual attacks of the states most dangerous sex predators. While the law was passed and the sex offenders are in confinement on McNeil Island they still manage to offend.
Using front organizations, the sex offenders, the worst of the worst, are reaching out into the homes, parks, schools, and playgrounds of our state every day.
The nonprofit organization, Wives and Mothers of Prisoners of the State (WMPS, Inc), is a front for the child molester Richard Roy Scott who is housed on McNeil Island. Richard Scott, the 60 year old rapist, has victims as young as 7 years old and has stated he has had more than 100 child sexual contacts (rapes). His targets have all been underage male children. WMPS is registered with the Secretary of State with an office address listed at: 750 N 143rd Street Seattle, WA 98133.
Richard Roy Scott, along with the help of his two rapist partners, Samuel Donaghe and Donald Owens, has created a front organization called, People’s Paralegal Services (PPS), PO Box 3701, Lacy, WA 98509, the aim of PPS is to help child molesters adopt young children from other countries, fund the legal problems of child rapist, and line their own bank accounts. Both the rapists Donaghe and Owens have long histories of raping young girls and boys. Owens wife, a strange case, is now the community contact person for People’s Paralegal Services, sad that she is a dupe in this immoral venture.
We ask that the elected officials in Olympia stop the continued rape of our community by offenders who are at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. Tighten RCW 71.09. Tighten their access to the community, limit their reach to our children and loved ones. Act now for our family’s sake, write, call, email Olympia and have this placed on the table for the next legislative session.

Reguarding the law in Missouri.I was accused and placed in jail over having sex with a miner when I just turned eighteen and it was consentual in 1992 but was not convicted on this until 1996.I was wondering if I still fall on the registering list or not.I never commetted any other sexual crime.Registering really makes my life very difficult.People only see sex offender and not realizing that I made a huge mistake when I was a teenager.We were both in high school at the time and I really trully didn't know about the law for students in high school.If I could change that day I would because living like I am is pure hell alone.Please email me back with the information that I asked about my situation.

Thank You!
Joseph Daigle

Posted by: joseph daigle | Sep 25, 2006 10:48:10 PM

You can make an error as a teenager; I don’t see a problem with that. But I think Washington State is looking at people who have long histories of rape and abuse. Those are the people we need to be protected form

Posted by: Robert Lucas | Jan 20, 2007 12:16:43 AM

!!!WARNING!!! VIOLATION OF ANYONE'S RIGHTS UNDER THE GUISE OF GOOD, WILL ONLY RESULT IN YOUR RIGHTS BEING VIOLATED IN THE FUTURE!!! OUR FOREFATHERS KNEW THIS, AND THAT IS WHY WE HAVE A "BILL OF RIGHTS"! CONSIDER YOURSELVES WARNED!!!

Posted by: . | Feb 26, 2007 3:58:38 PM

Society has the right to protect its self from those who would harm others. Look at the founders and it’s clear that they thought society had a right to protect its self. Sex predators like those mentioned here must be locked away so the child of our towns and cities can play without being raped or killed. It is not a violation of rights to put sick people in a place where they can get some help. The Bill of Rights is an important document, and the contract between people and a nation is just as important, read Heilbroner, Marx, Mill, all talk about a relationship between the individual and the state, and the need for the state to protect us from the likes of those rapist. Rights have not been violated here, only laws enforced to protect the community.

Posted by: Ed Weber | Feb 26, 2007 11:55:13 PM

Cowlitz County's four special commitemnt center residents
Joel S. Reimer, 37
Sexually violated a 7-year-old boy in 1982 at age 13.
Raped and assaulted a 13-year-old boy at age 16 in 1985 -- just two weeks after being released for the previous crime.
Molested a 12-year-old girl in 1990 at age 21 -- less than a month after being released on the rape charge.
The Longview native was civilly committed to the state's Special Commitment Center in 1992 as the 10th man sent there. He was the first from Cowlitz County. He successfully sued the state, claiming he didn't receive adequate mental health treatment in the original Special Commitment Center. The center was located inside two state prisons before the opening of the current facility on McNeil Island in 2005. Won a $10,000 settlement but not his freedom.

Eric St. John, 27
Raped a 2-year-old Longview girl in 1994 when he was 14.
Molested a 10-year-old Kelso girl during the same time period. Also admitted to additional unreported offenses against children.
Amassed numerous parole violations for having children's clothes, toys, pornography and other items in violation of his sex offender treatment.
Arrested for failing to register as a sex offender in 1998 in Asotin County in Southeast Washington. Also tried repeatedly to volunteer with the Boy Scouts and briefly had a job in a McDonald's playland in Asotin County by concealing his convictions.
Civil commitment papers were filed in 1999 due to the 1998 "recent overt acts" in Asotin County. He was subsequently committed and remains on McNeil Island.

Douglas A. Alsteen, 40
Raped a 10-year-old Kelso girl in 1985 at the age of 19.
Pleaded guilty to attempted rape near Castle Rock in 1990 -- at age 23 -- after threatening a woman with a gun, hitting her and telling her he would rape her. Also pleaded guilty to physically assaulting two other women in Kelso with sexual motivation.
Had "numerous infractions of a sexual nature" while incarcerated, according to court records.
Has been at Special Commitment Center since 2005 awaiting a civil commitment trial that had been scheduled to begin Monday but was postponed until June.

James LaBaum, 20
Sexually violated a wheelchair-bound 14-year-old boy in Longview at the age of 12 in 1999.
Attempted to rape a 7-year-old girl in 2001 at the age of 15.
Has had numerous sexual infractions while incarcerated, including touching other inmates, threatening sexual assault and acting out sexually in front of others, according to court records.
Transferred to McNeil Island on Jan. 15 and awaiting a civil commitment hearing, though he's refused a lawyer and told the judge he wants to be committed.
Source: Civil commitment court records

Late Monday, July 17, after a little more than an hour of deliberation, a Snohomish County jury ordered the civil commitment of Garth Snively. Snively, 57, was convicted of three sexually violent offenses against children and, prior to treatment, confessed in an interview that he had as many as 100 victims

Snively will be held indefinitely in total confinement at the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. He may not be released either until his condition has so changed that he no longer meets the definition of a sexually violent predator, or until the court orders his conditional release to a less restrictive alternative placement.

“Garth Snively is one of the worst kinds of offender, one who befriends his victims, grooms them then betrays their trust,” said Attorney General Rob McKenna. “It’s because of people like Snively that I worked with our sexually violent predator unit to pass tougher laws against sex predators who harm children. These new laws, coupled with the hard work of assistant attorneys general like Malcolm help make Washington a safer place for our children.”

The Attorney General’s Sexually Violent Predator Unit petitioned to have 24 offenders civilly committed in 2005, 25 percent more than in 2004. Of those 24 offenders, the Attorney General’s Office sought to civilly commit in 2005 sexually assaulted a total of 212 victims with an average age of 12.

The offenders were convicted of a total of 85 sex offenses, including 60 "sexually violent" or serious hands-on offenses. Offenders ranged in age from 12 to 63 years old and they came from 11 Washington counties, eight other states and several foreign countries.

In addition, in 2005, the AGO succeeded in civilly committing 19 offenders as sexually violent predators. This is the highest number of offenders the AGO has ever committed in one calendar year.

Based on the unit’s recommendations, McKenna requested and passed a package of sex offender legislation to further protect children and others against sex predators.

Posted by: Richard Roy Scott | Apr 1, 2007 11:30:25 PM

is Lifers Union Advocacy Group (http://www.lifersunion.org/) just a front organization for sex predators housed at the McNeil Island Special Commitment Center?
Lifers Union Advocacy Group (LUAG) states:
Lifers Union Advocacy Group (LUAG) is organized exclusively for charitable, educational, and literary purposes, Lifers Union Advocacy Group is organized for the purposes of sponsoring and contributing to activists and/or organizations working toward the betterment in family and otherwise social contacts for individuals incarcerated in prisons and/or mental hospitals nationwide;
This is from the web-page of the group and this is from the web-page of DSHS which keeps this group off the streets:
The Special Commitment Center Program, operated by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), provides a specialized mental health treatment program for civilly committed sex offenders who have completed their prison sentences.
The civil commitment process is under the authority of the superior court in the county where an individual was previously convicted of sex crimes. Only sex offenders whom the court finds to meet the legal definition of a sexually violent predator may be civilly committed to the Special Commitment Center (SCC).
Public safety is the central purpose of the Community Protection Act of 1990. In each of its facilities, the Special Commitment Center Program employs a variety of stringent public safety and security measures to provide for the community's safety.

Yes, the men who operate Lifers Union Advocacy Group are sexually violent predators, the worst of the worst, men like Kevin Coe, the South Hill Rapist, Richard Roy Scott the untreated child rapists who, if released in the morning would be raping before night fall.
How is it that this group is allowed to use the internet to continue their sex offending ways? The men who run this group are strong-arming weaker inmates, forcing them to give up monies for their personal cause.
The members of Lifers Union Advocacy Group are nothing more then sex predators using the net to offend.

Is it possible for a registered sex offender to retire to another country? If so, which countries? The person I'm asking the question for would like to move to Panama. Panama allows retirees with an income of at least $500 per month to retire there, but I don't know how to find out if they will accept a person with a felony record. Does anyone know how to find out which countries, if any, will accept a registered sex offender who has completed probation and is off of supervision? Since there is NO freedom for law abiding citizens who committed a crime 20 or 30 years ago in this Country, his only hope is to move to another country. Thanks.

Posted by: Jean | Apr 18, 2007 3:13:32 PM

Violent Sexual Predator Demands State employees Records

Richard Roy Scott, convicted child rapist, and resident at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, has been demanding the records of state employees. The Sexual Predator, Scott has used information in the past to harass, intimidate, and embarrass staff members. This behavior on the part of Scott the rapist is just a continuation of his predator act on children in the community. According to many of the clinical staff, the predator, Scott, will act out his sexual behaviors in any way possible, much like the alcoholic who will drink cleaning solutions when booze is not available.
The real question is why the state of Washington allows such a sick mind to have employee documents.

I am a spouse of a registered sex offender and I have found this to be very challenging for the both of us not to mention our child. I can understand how there needs to be certain laws regarding where a sex offender lives and access to the public schools. However I believe this put not only the offender but also their families in a very difficult situation. My husband was convicted of two seperate charges for Statuatory Rape. This has lead to a lifetime registration requirement which limits where we can live. It also hinders his access to decent work and I myself have been "let go" because employers have found out about my husbands past.
I was happy to find that there are advocacy groups available yet saddened to realize there are none where we reside.
We need to inform the public of the differences between serial rapists, child molesters and statuatory rape...these differences are huge. NOt to mention that when these men and women are released and unable to find employment and decent housing they often times have no other choice except to return to a life of crime. At least they would have a roof over their heads in jail, right? This is so sad and I am grateful for those who are willing to put their necks out to help PEOPLE.

Posted by: Virginia | Nov 11, 2009 3:25:56 PM

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